Not Today
by MKAmericanhero
Summary: What if Callie hadn't made it out of the house unscathed? What if Stef had already been on her way to pick up Callie when all hell broke lose in that basement? My version of the last episode, heavy on Callie and Stef, but the others are there. Two or three shot.
1. Chapter 1

**I should be updating my other stories, but I had been asked to do a take on the last episode and every time I watch the ending I keep feeling like I wanted something different to happen. So this is the result.**

People always talk about playing with fire and they use it to reference taking chances knowing the risk of getting hurt, or getting burned. Callie had spent the majority of her life playing with fire within the foster system. Every new home was like sticking your hand in the fireplace and praying you don't get that badly burned. That thought crossed Callie's mind as she stood in the foyer of Girls United with thick smoke filling her lungs and the free space around her and the other girls. She heard Rita yelling at them to get out, while she went in search of Becca. The other girls left without any fuss, but Callie took one step toward the door and felt an all too familiar tug at her heart. Becca was her friend, even though neither girl really wanted that to be true it was and Rita…well Rita was the first adult outside of Stef and Lena that was willing to get into the gutter with Callie and pull her out. She looked at the wide-open front door and at the girls outside and savored the moment, knowing that what she was about to do could make this her last chance to see the freedom that door offered.

She followed Rita down the stairs of the basement and with each step the air became denser and Callie felt like she was breathing in nothing but dirt. She tried to shield her nose and mouth a bit as she raced toward the flames and to Rita holding Becca in her arms, in a position hat suggested that she was resigned to die in the fire just so that Becca wasn't abandoned yet again. Callie appeared at Becca's feet and before Rita could protest Callie grabbed Becca under her arms and with strength Callie didn't know she had she pulled the other girl up enough that Rita could wrap her arms around her waist and begin to slowly pull her toward the stairs. Callie helped with Becca's feet for a few steps, but as they reached the stairs the fire had spread and all Callie heard was a crack and then a loud crash before she was knocked off her feet by a supporting beam.

"Callie! Honey here grab my hand." Rita extended her arm as far as it could have possibly gone, but Callie knew there was no way the woman could save them both.

"Take her up the stairs while you still have a grip on her waist."

"Callie I am not leaving you down here."

"Yes you are, I can lift this off. I'll be burned a bit, but I'll survive. She will not if you don't get her out now. Go!" Callie knew it was a lie. Hell, Rita knew it was a lie. Callie couldn't have lifted that part of the beam from her level regardless of how hard she tried. Callie didn't know what she was thinking, but she knew what made sense; one life, in exchange for two was basic math and Callie was willing, as she had been so many times before to make the ultimate sacrifice for someone else. Rita tightened her grip and took another step up the stairs.

"I'll send the fire team in for you. Don't give up just yet Callie." Rita disappeared and Callie looked down to check how screwed she really was. The beam had trapped her left leg and Callie could fell that it was broken. The fire on the beam had just hit the part of the beam that was on her leg and Callie realized that slowly burning to death was not going to be painless. Her thoughts drifted to Jude, who was sound asleep, not aware that his big sister was in mortal danger. She thought to Stef who was on her way to pick her up and her heart almost stopped. She didn't want her mother to watch her die. She didn't want to die. Knowing that she would indeed get burned further Callie risked it and used most of her strength to push the beam off her leg so that she was no longer pinned underneath it.

She managed to army crawl up to the stairs and move her body up the first few steps. Callie looked up at the remaining stairs and realized it would be an honest miracle if she made it to the top. She dug in her jacket picket and found her cell phone that somehow still worked. She typed fast and deliberately, sending messages to only a few people. Somewhere in Jude's duffel bag Lena's cell phone buzzed. Brandon's buzzed while he was in the shower. And Stef's phone went off while she was sitting at a red light. She never usually checked texts and drove, but it was Callie's ringtone. Stef looked down for a second and read, _'In case you get here and it's too late, please know I love you. You were the first person since my mom died who I saw as a hero. You saved me and for that I'll love you always. Tell him I love him please.'_

Stef's face blanched and she immediately started to speed down the road with her phone pressed to her ear.

"Pick up, pick up, pick up." She chanted as she took turns at twice the recommended speed.

"Mom?" Stef started to cry harder. She could hear Callie coughing and the fear in her daughter's voice was clear as day.

"Callie, baby, I'm almost there, what happened?"

"Fire."

"Callie where are you? Get out of the house." Stef barked into the phone and tried not to cry any harder.

"I can't….love you."

"Hey, none of that, no more goodbyes. I love you too, but I'm almost there and I will come get you myself if I have to."

"No…you live…for him…please."

"Callie." Stef almost whispered it.

"Love you." The line went dead and in the end it didn't matter because Stef could finally see the fire truck and ambulances in front of her. She threw the car into park and ran full speed toward the house only to be stopped by a firefighter.

"Ma'am, you have to stay out here. That house is dangerous."

Stef pushed and fought him as much as any mother could. "I don't care my daughter is still in there and I will not bring her home in a body bag. LET ME GO!" Stef's hysterics weren't helped when a loud crash echoed in the house.

"CALLIE!" The teenagers outside watched as Stef totally lost it on the front lawn. Rita finally broke away from Becca and stood next to Stef and they were forced to watch and wait, because regardless of that crash the firefighters were still in that house and hadn't given up yet.

While all that was happening outside, at the same time inside Callie had managed to get half way up the stairs before he body just wouldn't do any more. Her arms weren't burnt and were even more injured from pulling her up the stairs. Her leg screamed with every single movement her body made and her lungs were full of smoke. Callie realized it was over and rested her head against the stair railing. Roughly two minutes later, just as she was about to pass out completely she felt strong hands grab her under her arms and pull her up, eventually she was being held, or so she guessed. She felt as though she was being cradled in someone's arms. There was a huge crash that had been the result of the basement staircase totally giving out. Callie didn't know what was going on, but she hoped whoever was holding her was real and not an angel of some kind. She felt cold air and before she lost consciousness she grabbed her rescuer's jacket and said in a firm tone, "not today."

Stef watched the front door and did something she didn't do often; pray. She prayed hard that soon a firefighter would come out of the fire with her daughter in toe. Her prayer was interrupted by Rita shaking her arm and forcing her to look at the door closely. Stef did and could make out one firefighter walking out and he was shouting orders at the EMT's and before Stef could try and understand what he was telling them, she saw one more firefighter walking through the doorway and he was in fact holding Callie in his arms. This time the let Stef through as the tall man laid Callie on the stretcher. Stef watched as the EMT's scanned her body fast to assess the injuries. They were mostly concerned about her leg and her lungs. They assured Stef that the burns on her hands and arms were not as serious and wouldn't require skin grafts, just time to heal. They quickly loaded Callie into the ambulance and Stef climbed in with her. The whole ride Stef didn't know what to do with her hands. She wanted to hold her child, but couldn't. So instead she watched helplessly as the EMT cut off Callie's jacket, shirt and began cutting through her pants when they pulled into the ER. The door of the ambulance swung open and Stef could see a team of roughly 12 doctors waiting to take Callie. She was allowed to follow them for a while, but as they entered the trauma bay she was once again held back and forced to deal with not knowing what was going on.

When Stef finally made herself sit down in the waiting room it was all too easy to start crying again. Stef was usually the level head when the kids got hurt, but Lena was god knows where and this time it wasn't a broken arm or a bump on the head. Her daughter had been caught and trapped in a fire that burned her skin, broke her leg and filled her lungs with smoke. So yes Stef was crying because for the first time she was sitting in an ER waiting room because of one of her kids and this time she had no guarantees that Callie would be alright.

Her phone buzzing stopped the flow of tears and she sniffled before answering in as even as a tone as she could.

"Hey B."

"Mom, what the hell is going on. I just checked my cell and Callie sent me some weird message saying she loved all of us and to tell the twins goodbye. Where is she? Where are you? I thought you were picking her up?"

"Brandon…no B, she isn't ok. I'm at the ER and they just took her back." The line was fairly silent as Brandon let that news sink in.

"What happened?"

"There was a fire. I'm not sure the cause, but your sister decided to help save two other people and in the process got pinned under a beam. The firefighters got her out just before the stairs collapsed."

"But she'll be ok right?"

"I don't know Brandon. I wish I did, but I have no idea. Listen to me though. I'm not leaving here until they give me some good news so Callie is safe now and is being cared for. I need you to help me."

"Ok."

"Call your dad and have him go pick up my car from the scene and then call Mama. I know her phone is on silent, but call it non-stop ok B? Keep your brother and sister there and I'll call the second they tell me anything."

"Alright."

"I love you Brandon."

"I love you too mom." Stef hung up the phone and rubbed her hands over her face a few times before she set about making other phone calls. She called her mother, Lena's parents, she called her boss to call in all her sick days and paid vacation and just as she was about to try calling Lena, a doctor came out calling Callie's name.

"I'm her mother." Stef stood up and the doctor walked over and shook Stef's hand.

"Mrs. Foster, I'm Dr. West, I'm lead on your daughter's care and I'm the head of the burn unit here."

"How are the burns?"

"I know in the field they must have looked awful, but she was luckier than you realize. The burns on her leg are mostly 2nd and 3rd degree burns. The ones on her hands are mostly all 3rd degree, but the damage doesn't appear to be severe enough to require skin grafts. They will take time to heal, but they'll heal. As they heal, we can have a plastic surgeon take a look at them and minimize the scaring."

"Then if the burns are treatable then why did she pass out?"

"A combination of severe pain, adrenaline spike and crash and her lungs took in a dangerous amount of smoke."

"Define dangerous, what does that mean for her?"

"It means that we have intubated her to get that out of her lungs and replace it with pure oxygen. Once her levels come up she should wale up on her own and we'll remove the tube soon after that and put her on a mask. They are fixing her leg in surgery now. Once she is out, she'll be in the burn unit until she wakes up and then we'll move her to the ICU. Then it's up to her body when she can go home."

"Look I know doctors hate this question, but I've got four other kids at home, one of them is her baby brother and my wife will be running in here any minute now asking if she will be ok, so please answer me this, is she going to make it out of this?"

"All our tests point to yes Mrs. Foster. She'll be hurting and breathing will hurt for a while, but you tell her baby brother that his big sister will be back home eventually and she'll be back to her old self when she gets there. Her brains cans were clear so the major concern is her lung functioning. I need to get back there, but the second she is in a room I'll come get you." Stef let the doctor go and she sat back down, finally letting go of the breath she had been holding in. Her phone rang and it was Lena so she took one more deep breath and answered.

**Ok, I didn't mean for this to be long, but it's gonna be like two or three chapters, but be patient because I have other stories that REALLY need my attention. Let me know what you think.**


	2. What Do We Say To The God of Death

**Wow, thank you guys for the feedback. I'm not going to make this a long story because I have other ones to tend to so it will probably only be about 3-5 chapters, if that. Someone asked about Robert and his family being there and I'm not super comfortable writing them, so I will mention them, but I highly doubt I'd work them in because then the story would definitely be much long.**

"Stef what in the hell is going on? Jude woke up because my phone was in his bag and it was buzzing so much. There are 38 missed calls Stef, from you and Brandon and some really odd text message to Jude from Callie. What happened?"

"Love did you listen to any of the messages I left?"

"No stef, I called you straight away because this seemed big, is everyone ok?" Stef sighed and ran her hand over her face. "No Lena, everyone isn't ok."

The line was quiet and Lena knew she had to ask questions that she feared the answers too. "Where are you now?"

"Sitting in the ER waiting for a doctor to come give me another update and a room number for her."

"Stef what happened, why is she in the hospital?"

"She was volunteering at Girls United this weekend and tonight one of the girls went into the basement and OD'd trying to kill herself, but not before setting the basement of the house on fire. The girls got out, Rita went to find the missing girl and when she couldn't move her alone, Callie rushed down there to help her. Rita said a beam collapsed and pined Callie to the ground, which broke her leg and then burned it. She managed to lift the thing off, but that burned her too. She made it half way up the stairs before the smoke made her pass out. The firefighters got to her just before the stairs collapsed."

Lena's end of the phone was full of tears being sniffled back, "what have the doctors said so far?"

"Lena right now the best news I have is that they are pretty sure she'll survive and won't need skin grafts. Beyond that, it could be breathing problems or scars from moving the beam, we won't know until they get her breathing on her own. She'll be in the burn unit, then the ICU until her breathing is better."

"Ok, look I'm grabbing our stuff and we'll be home soon. Wait, Stef, Jude wants to talk to you." Jude grabbed the phone from his mother and all but yelled into the phone. "Is Callie ok, where is she? I want to talk to her."

Stef hated this part the most.

"Listen sweets, Callie has a team of doctors fixing her up and making her better as we speak, she just needs time to heal."

"She can't die." Jude said it through tears and Stef felt terrible because no words could soothe his fears right now.

"Listen buddy, she is fighting like hell to get better. Just go with momma and I'll see you soon. I love you."

"I love you too." Jude said it and the line went dead after that and Stef tossed the phone at her feet in frustration. She kept her head in her hands for 15 minutes and was only forced to pick her head up when she head her name being called from behind her. When she looked up she saw Brandon and the twins walking toward her, all of them looking panicked and their flushed faces gave away that they had been crying. They all hugged their mother before launching into a bunch of question about Callie. Stef explained the story to them and the tears started all over again. All three teenagers sat down and they all settled into an uneasy silence.

"I thought I told you to stay home?" Stef looked at Brandon and the boy shook his head. "You did, but there was not a chance in hell I was going to wait at home while she lie in there fighting to live. Our place is here. Besides when Jude gets here you'll need people to hold him back a bit."

"She just had to play the hero." Mariana mumbled just loud enough for everyone to hear. Jesus bumped her shoulder, looking a little mad at his twin. "She wasn't playing anything, she did what she had been conditioned to do. She protected Jude all their lives. Her natural inclination is to save others and damn the consequences. It wasn't a smart idea, but she saved two people tonight Mariana. She wasn't playing a hero she fucking was one."

"Language." Stef warned, far too tired to scold her son further.

"Whatever, you know I'm right. When you came looking for me that night, it was a dumb idea, but you did it to make sure I was safe. You could've died that night and Callie could die after this, but if she is half as strong as I think she is, she'll live. Sounds pretty heroic to me." Stef wanted to say something, but she realized she didn't have the right to. The night she had been shot, she gave little thought to the consequences, she just wanted her children safe. Jesus was right, Callie had done what life had conditioned her to do; save others first and forget that she matters. Callie had devoted her life to protecting Jude and tonight she proved that her bravery is not reserved just for her baby brother. Stef could only hope that tonight had a positive outcome for Callie, much like it had for her the night she was shot. Stef's line of thought was interrupted when three large men walked over to her with sympathetic faces.

"Mrs. Foster?"

Stef stood up along with the kids and turned toward the men. "Yes, how can I help you?"

"We don't mean to bother you ma'am, my name Nicholas Banks, I'm one of the firefighters that was there tonight." The man stopped talking for a second because he didn't know what else to say. Stef studied the man's face and tried to remember the scene of the fire. She had been so focused on Callie that remembering faces of the rescue team didn't seem important, but Stef looked at this man and tried to place him. His face was no longer covered in soot and an oxygen mask, but he had piecing blue eyes and for some reason Stef remembered those eyes.

"You….you brought my daughter out of the house." The firefighter looked solemn and nodded his head. Stef didn't know if she wanted to cry or scream because this was all too much to handle for one person. Without thinking about it she quickly launched herself into the arms of the man in front of her and hugged him tightly.

"Thank you so much for getting my baby out of there. She would've died down there if you hadn't….just thank you." The firefighter was happy to return Stef's hug and Brandon could see tears forming in the man's eyes.

"It was my pleasure Mrs. Foster, I'm just glad we could get her out of there in time. We didn't mean to intrude on your family waiting for news, but we wanted to come by and see if there was any news on her."

"Not much. They think she'll make it, but they are tending to the burn now with the hopes that her scars won't be too bad."

The firefighter reached into his pocket and handed Stef a card. "If you wouldn't mind giving me a call when you know how she is doing. When it's stuff like this and it's a kid we like to keep in touch with the family."

"Of course." Stef took his card and put it in her pocket. The three firefighters were about to walk away when Nicholas paused. "When I picked her up, she said something to me. I'm not sure what it means, but she came to just long enough to say it so I figure it must be important."

"What did she say?"

"Not today. She opened her eyes, grabbed my jacket and said not today, then she passed out again. I figure it was something you might understand so I thought you should know." They said their goodbyes and left the family alone once again and Stef sat down running the words through her head over and over again.

"Not today. What the hell did she mean by that?" All three of the kids thought about it for a while and just as Stef was about to get mad at herself for not remembering, Jesus smiled and mumbled something under his breath.

"I know what she meant."

Stef looked up fast. "Really? How…never mind, what did she mean by it?"

"It was a message for you mom." Stef was already lost.

"What are you talking about, how can it be a message for me when I don't understand what it means?"

"Mom, think hard, what is the one show you and Callie love that no one else in the house watches?"

"Game of Thrones?" Jesus nodded his head.

"Yes, Game of Thrones, now I only ever watched like 15 minutes of that show, but it was enough to hear that line."

"What line?" Stef was getting mad and her son was talking in riddles.

"Mom. What do we say to the god of death?" Stef paused and seconds later it was like the answer slapped her across the face.

"Not today." Jesus nodded and continued to smile. "Mom she was telling you that she wasn't giving up. Callie may have known she was in trouble, but she has no intension of dying tonight. She is still in this fight, so we need to be in it with her."

"When did you get to be so wise?" Stef kissed her son's head as they settled back into the chairs. "We aren't going to give up honey, she is not alone in that fight. I promise."

**Sorry for the short chapter guys, but my family had a rough night last night when a drunk driver crashed into our parked cars, just narrowly missing my pregnant sister so my nerves and emotions are shot.**


	3. Give Her That Much

**Sorry for the delay everyone things have been rough and busy these last few weeks. I've been dealing with my depression and anxiety a lot more, but writings these stories seem to ease the issues I have and give me something healthy to do. Anyway, thanks for being patient.**

It had been several hours since Stef had heard anything from any doctor and she was starting to get pissed. The twins had fallen asleep leaning against each other and Brandon was forcing himself to stay awake in an effort to keep his mother company. They expected Lena to arrive with Jude any minute, but Stef had no idea what she would say once they got there. As Stef continued pacing the waiting room Brandon saw a doctor enter the room and seeing as it was now roughly 2 in the morning, there was only one reason why anyone would be walking in there.

"Mrs. Foster?" Stef stopped mid step and turned to the doctor.

"It's been hours, where is my child?" Stef was seething and with good reason. Lena was going to have question and Jude was going to be beside himself and Stef had absolutely nothing to offer them.

"I am sorry Mrs. Foster. I would have come and spoke to you myself, but I had to handle Callie's burns and they took longer than we had planned."

"Longer? What does that mean?" Dr. West held out some pieces of paper for Stef to look over and she tried to explain what had happened.

"Most of her burns were exactly what I explained to you earlier, but the ones on her leg ended up being more serious than I had originally thought and we need to do skin grafts on them. Once they fixed the broken bone we went in and added the skin graft. That way we didn't traumatize that part of her body twice. They have her set up in a room in the burn unit and I can take you to see her now." Stef head was again spinning with far too much information, but she nodded.

"Brandon, stay with your brother and sister. If mama shows up, tell her I'll be right back." Brandon wanted to follow his mother, but in that moment he knew that his place was with there in that waiting room. Stef was walked through the regular part of the ICU and then down a separate hallway that was clearly marked burn unit. She was handed a plastic gown to place over her clothes and a mask to place over her mouth and nose. Every part of what she was doing made Stef's stomach drop further into her body. Was all of this for Callie or was it just hospital rules? Either way Stef hated it. Once she was fully protected Dr. West led Stef into the main part of the burn unit and Stef immediately knew that if she and Lena let Jude come into this part of the hospital he wouldn't sleep for weeks. Hell Stef was pretty sure that she wouldn't be able to sleep after seeing it. They two women stopped in front of a room and the doctor checked to see if Stef was ready.

"She won't look much like herself Mrs. Foster, but I promise you, given the circumstances, she is doing very well." Stef couldn't come up with any words to say so she just nodded and let the doctor lead them inside. Stef immediately looked at the bed and promptly wanted to throw up. The doctor was right: Callie didn't look like herself. Her body looked small and pale and the machine that was currently moving air through her lungs made Callie look like she was barely holding onto life.

"This is what you call doing very well."

"Mrs. Foster I have people on this floor that are never going to be able to walk again or breath without help. Some of them had to have skin grafts to 80% of their body so yes, Callie is doing remarkably well. We will monitor her closely to make sure the skin graft and the surgical scar heal properly and with infection. We will check her oxygen level after 24 hours and then again at 48 hours. If they have gone up to where I need them then we can start to take her off the ventilator and let her breath on her own."

"What about her waking up? When will that happen?"

"I want her unconscious for a least 72 hours. The less moving her body does, the better. After that we can evaluate her again and if everything looks good we will slowly scale back the medicine. Best case scenario, she'll be out of the medical coma in about 4 days."

"4 days!" The doctor tried to calm Stef down.

"Mrs. Foster, I promise you, this is all so that when Callie wakes up she is able to heal faster. If I took her off those medications now her body would reject that tube and she'll be in here longer than she needs to be. I want her to go home with you sooner rather than later, but Mrs. Foster, please you have to trust me on this. I have built my career on these cases and my goal is ALWAYS to send home healthy patients. You will get your daughter back."

"I'd better." Stef glared at the doctor and thankfully it was not the first time the doctor had experienced this type of reaction from a parent so it didn't bother her at all.

"I'll leave you alone, the nurse at the desk can explain the visiting policy and I assume you'll be spending the night with her." The glare the doctor received answered her question.

"Then I'll have someone bring in a chair bed and some pillows for you." The doctor wrote a few more things down and left Stef alone in the room. Stef knew she had precious few minutes until Lena would arrive and so she used that time to come completely undone emotionally. She sat down in a chair next to Callie's bed and placed her hand on Callie's chest, insistent on feeling her daughter chest rise and fall along with her heartbeats. Her crying was short lived when she felt her phone vibrate with a message from Lena saying that they were downstairs and were on their way to the waiting room that Brandon had told them the rest of the family was in. Stef stood up from her chair and leaned forward, kissing Callie's forehead.

"Mommy will be right back ok? I'm gonna go get momma and I'll be right back, I promise." Stef walked out of the room and ran into a nurse as she did so.

"Mrs. Foster? I'm Hannah, I'll be Callie's night nurse for most of the days she is here." Stef tried to suck up her tears and shook the young woman's hand.

"Nice to meet you. Um, I need to go get my wife. When we come back do I just have her put on this stuff and bring her in?"

"Yes ma'am. Generally, our only rules are that no one who is sick can come into the ward and we request that any visitor between 10 and 14 have a parent with them." Stef nodded and was thankful that they would at least allow Jude in, not that it would have stopped the boy from seeing his sister.

"I'll be back in a few minutes then." Stef left the burn unit and then exited the ICU entirely, finally ditching the gown she had wrapped around her body. She started to take off the mask that was tied around her head when she rounded the corner and heard her name being called. Lena was standing in the hallway with Brandon and Jude and when Stef showed up and, well, saying all hell broke lose would be putting it mildly. Lena was already scared by the fact that her wife had a surgical mask around her face and Jude was all to familiar with what that meant for his sister so his took off like he was going to run right past Stef. Of course he didn't get past his mother before Stef had him wrapped up and all but tackled him to the ground.

"Let me go." Jude fought against his mother, but Stef was stronger and wasn't about to let Jude go. She let him fight her for a while, tears streaming down both of their faces. Eventually he stopped trying to fight Stef and just collapsed into her lap.

"I don't want her to die." Stef's heart broke for the boy in her arms because…this wasn't how it was supposed to be. They shouldn't be in a position where they were all still fighting, but here they, all of them fighting.

"She isn't going to die sweetheart. Callie just got really hurt tonight and they need some time to fix everything before we can bring her home."

"Some home, every other week someone is dragging her out of it. Either the state or Robert, someone is always around to take her. She doesn't have a home anywhere except with me."

"Buddy listen to me. I know the last few weeks have been hard, but when Callie is well enough to leave the hospital she is coming home with us, not Robert, not anyone else, us. Ok?" Jude didn't want to believe anything that anyone said, not at that moment anyway, he wanted Callie.

"Can I see her?" Stef sighed and realized that there was no use in talking to Jude until he saw Callie. She nodded her head and got off the floor. Lena walked up and slipped her hand into Stef's and with Jude walking about a step in front of them they walked toward the burn unit. Lena put her own gown on while Stef helped Jude with his. Once they reached Callie's door Stef placed her hand on Jude's shoulder.

"Listen buddy, Callie looks pretty pale and weak right now, but that's just because the surgery took a lot out of her physically. She doesn't look like she usually does, so don't be too shocked." The boy nodded and Stef pushed the door open and Jude all but ran inside, stopping at his sister's bedside. Stef shut the door behind them and she and Lena went and stood right behind Jude as he studied his sister. Jude didn't know what to do. She had bandages on her hands and part of her arms so he had no idea where he could touch his sister in order to let her feel that he was there. He finally settled for Callie's shoulder, rubbing it gently as he whispered to his sister.

"You're sure she's gonna be ok?"

"That is what all the doctors keep saying buddy."

"Right and they never lie."

"Jude, watch it. You aren't the only one hurting here." Stef warned him and Jude backed off a little. Everyone had a short fuse that night and they were all looking for someone to blame and in this situation no such person existed, leaving everyone with a lot of unresolved anger and fear. Stef pulled Lena off to the side and explained the clinical version of what happened and they quickly decided that Stef would stay with Callie while Lena took everyone else home.

"Jude. Momma is going to take you all home. You can come back tomorrow and see Callie."

"I'm not leaving her." Stef was tired and angry and didn't have the energy for this, but she understood his protectiveness over his sister.

"Jude I will be here all night with her. Nothing will happen to her without me knowing." The teenager mumbled something under his breath, clearly unhappy with this arrangement.

"After our mother died, we spent years alone. Just the two of us. All we had was each other. We may not have had everything, but we had each other; we weren't alone. If those doctors were lying and she dies tonight…don't let her die alone. Please. Just give her that much." Jude tore the gown off his body and stormed out of the room, leaving both his mother to feel like absolute crap.

"He's just scared Stef. He didn't mean any of it."

"Yes he did. And he's right. We've been playing with fire and tonight we literally got burned. No more. Tell our lawyer I want those abandonment papers signed within the next three days or I will drag Robert Quinn's name through the mud." Lena sighed, knowing that Stef was too upset to talk this out. She nodded and gave her wife a kiss on the cheek before she kissed Callie.

"I'll have the other kids come say goodnight." Lena left the room and all Stef had to listen too now was the beeping and hissing of the machines surrounding her daughter. In that kind of disturbing silence, the only thing anyone can do is think. Stef looked at her daughter and all she could do was hope that she didn't just lie to her son by saying it would be ok. All Stef had was the word of a doctor and the sounds of life support machines and even though it wasn't much, it was all she and her family would get to hold onto for the next few days, so it was going to have to be enough.

**Ok, so I'm not going to kill Callie. DUH. However, I wanted to flush this idea out a bit more. I'll show more of Lena and the kids in the next chapter and then I can start showing Callie waking up and getting better. Stick with me and let me know if you want to see something specific.**


	4. If You Love Something Let It Go

**I'm so sorry for the wait you guys. My Masters graduation happened on October 19****th**** and my sister went into labor two days later so my parents and I all rushed back to California so they could see the baby be born and I came the next day. I've spent so much at the hospital with my sister and my beautiful niece that everything else has faded into the background. Hope you are still with me.**

The next morning Lena had shown up at the hospital early, leaving the kids in the care of her mother-in-law. Stef was passed out in those weird chairs that turn into beds and Callie was still hooked up to machines, indicating that not much had changed. Just as Lena was getting ready to go into the room she saw an all too familiar man walk toward her and he didn't look happy. Lena tore off her mask and met Robert Quinn half way, standing toe-to-toe with him.

"What the hell Lena, I just heard about Callie, why wasn't I called?"

"Number one, lower your voice. Number two; you were called about thirty times. We called your house, your cell, your office, everywhere and no answer."

"We were out of town for a family gathering. My cell doesn't get reception. Callie had the number of where we were, why didn't you call?"

"Maybe I should say this slowly because you seem to be ignoring the things I tell you. She is not conscious to give me a phone number."

"I'm her father, I should've been here."

"You seem to have forgotten that part when you missed the first 16 years of her life."

"That's crap Lena and you know it. I can't parent a child I never knew about."

"You also can't waltz into her life and demand to be loved. Your absence hurt her Robert; intended or not. You weren't there and she got hurt, badly. Abuse can't fade and it cannot be bought. Standing here beating your chest, demanding that you be treated like her father is childish. You want to be her father, act like it and sign the god damn papers."

"I'm not giving up my daughter Lena."

"She isn't your daughter, she's mine. She may have your DNA, but I have walked with her through hell and you don't get to come in and try and buy her love and buy your daughter a play thing in the form of an older sister."

"How dare you."

"How dare I? Your ego is so hurt; you don't see what is plainly in front of you. Robert, Stef and I are not trying to keep you from Callie, but we cannot and will not force her into your arms. We had to earn her trust and so do you. Now you can drag up through court, but I promise you it will only make Callie want to push you away harder. If you love her at all, you'll give her the gift you never gave her as a child: love her enough to let her go."

Robert was fuming, but still quiet as he thought it over and after rubbing his hand over his face he shook his head. "I'm sorry Lena, I can't."

"Then I will see you in court, get out." Robert took a step toward Lena, but was soon interrupted when another woman joined Lena….a woman that Robert had never met.

"Mr. Quinn I assume?"

"Yes, who are you?"

"Lena's mother and your absolute worst nightmare if you fight my daughter and daughter in law."

"This doesn't concern you."

"Like hell. Look Mr. Quinn, I understand that you wish to drag this through court, which is of course your right, but here is what my lawyers are prepared to bring forward if you stand by that decision." Robert took the file out of her hands and flipped through it.

"You are bringing the ACLU into this."

"My husband and I give very generously to them and I've sat on a few boards in my time. Now, if you take us to court the ACLU will just be my first step, but it will be the most damning. I will drag you backwards through the mud Mr. Quinn until it looks like you are fighting my family because you don't want your daughter raised by a lesbian couple."

"That's not true…"

"Somehow I don't think the evening news will care Mr. Quinn. Push me on this, fight my daughter and my daughter in law and I will make sure you have nothing when this is over. Worst-case scenario, I drag out court proceedings so long that Callie turns 18 and who do you think she'll want to stay with at that point? The family that loved her when the whole world turned their backs on her or the father that wanted her because he felt her had a right to claim her?"

"I just want to get to know her."

"And my daughter would never stand in the way of that, but you have to share her Mr. Quinn. Callie is an exceptional girl, as she has proved with this feat of heroism and you can't hide her from the world Mr. Quinn, not when she is so hell bent on changing it." Robert sighed and looked back to Lena.

"Can I please see her?"

"The doctor will be in with her any minute now. If you can come back this afternoon that would be best, she'll be left alone for a few hours and Stef or I will just be sitting with her. Her sister can come visit so long as you are with her and you wear the protective gear."

Robert nodded, "I'll go home and change, then we will swing by after lunch."

"The doctor should be gone by then and then we should be able to give you a better update on how she is doing." Robert nodded his head and looked around, not sure how to leave.

"I'm sorry about yelling at you. You didn't deserve that."

Lena nodded. "You care about her, I know that, but you have to know, Stef and I aren't trying to keep her from you. We want her to know you, her sister and your family. But at the end of the day I would walk through fire to adopt her, so the choice is yours Robert. We can love her and share her, or we can fight over her. She's been through so much already that I would just assume make peace with you and move forward."

"I'll call before we head up." Robert left without saying anything else and Lena turned around and walked back to the room with her mother at her side.

"You really called the ACLU?"

"Lena, I would've called the President if I had his phone number. No one is taking my granddaughter anywhere she doesn't want to go. I know you and Stef would go broke fighting for her, so your father and I decided to step in and grease the wheels of justice for Callie."

"Normally I hate using money to buy in situations like this."

"But?" Lena smiled, "But I think just this once I don't mind having parents who have some power to throw around. He's not a bad man mom."

"Clearly. That doesn't mean he's in the right. My lawyers will make it all right again, don't worry. By the time Callie is ready to go home you'll have her adoption papers, they'll make sure of it."

"Thanks mom."

"My pleasure, now, I'd like to see my granddaughter and I bet your wife could use some coffee. Shall we?" With that both women put on the gown and masks and entered Callie's room.

**So did I make Robert an ass? A little bit yes, but I don't want this story to be 1000 chapters so I needed something that would resolve in like 10 chapters or less. I think I'll let the kids come see her in the next chapter, along with Robert and Sophia. Then wake her up and all that. **


End file.
